Pratiksha Tondwalkar: A Story Of An Ambitious Woman Who Achieved Success By Her Hard Work

“You will be defined not just by what you achieve , but by how you survive.”

Here we came up with a story of a strong and self-confident woman Pratiksha Tondwalkar, a Pune resident who started working as a bank sweeper 37 years ago in SBI bank, after putting lots of effort and hard work, she was being finally appointed as an Assistant General Manager (A G M)in the State Bank Of India.

By achieving this success pratiksha had proved that a woman is too powerful and can achieve anything which she had already decided to do with her hard work, self-confidence, perseverance and determination. And by this not only did she achieve her goal and make herself successful but also became an example and inspiration for many more women and girls like her.

“Beginning Of  Journey To The Way Of Success”:

This did not happen overnight, of course; this is the success of decades of struggle and toil.

Pratiksha was born in Pune in 1964. Her parents got her married just at the age of 16  before she could complete her class 10 exams. Her husband Sadashiv kadu was based in Mumbai and worked at SBI as a bookbinder. After a year when both of them were blessed with a son, they went to visit the village with their family, but unfortunately, on the way they had met an accident in which kadu passed away, leaving Tondwalker a widow with her little one and unstable financial circumstances. Therefore, as a single mother, she had decided to look after her son and she had determined to overcome her circumstances in order to give her son a decent life and to survive in this world.

In one of her interviews, Tondwalkar had stated that when she visited the SBI branch to collect the remaining dues of her husband, there she got to know that she had to take up a job but was not so qualified to get a reputed job, therefore she asked the bank to help her with any kind of job in the bank itself so that she can survive and can take care of her little son. From there pratiksha had started her career as a sweeper, at the age of 20 at the Mumbai branch of State Bank Of India (SBI), she started a day working for two-three hours, mainly sweeping the branch premises, dusting furniture and cleaning restrooms rooms. On the other hand, she also had to spend time and take care of her little son, and eventually, had started working odd jobs to support her family in Mumbai. By working there and watching people working at the office, she got inspired and realized that she could reach there too. From there she had set a target and a goal and started putting all her efforts and determination to her work, on the other side Tondwalkar started enquiring about the ways to complete her class 10 exams, as she knew that without clearing class 10 exams she could not go ahead with better job opportunities. Therefore, with the help of bank assistants and the support of the family, she earned the class 10th degree and eventually, she also earned other educational degrees and continued with her studies further on. Finally, proving her devotion and dedication she was promoted from sweeper to clerk, however she didn’t stop there and later on she was promoted to scale 4, then CGM and, then finally to AGM of the State Bank Of India.

Because of Pratiksha’s devotion, determination, dedication, truly hard work and struggle, the State Bank Of India also honoured her for her outstanding performance and accomplishment. Pratiksha has two years left before she retires. 

Apart from that, Pratiksha had also graduated from the naturopathy program in 2021 and decided to use her education to help others and especially to help the women and girls like her, after retiring.

In a country of men predominance, especially in the banking sector, Pratiksha’s story was totally exceptional, inspirational and also motivational for other women as well as young girls. 

“Think Like A Queen. A Queen If Not Afraid To Fail. Failure Is Another Stepping Stone To Greatness.”

    ~OPRAH WINFREY

• Shyma Mansur